My wedding photography equipment list

Camera gear

I'm often asked by weddings guests and photographers alike, "what camera gear do you use?" and whilst it's usually to see which side of the age-old Canon Vs. Nikon war I come down on, I thought I'd put pen to paper (or fingers to keys) and let you know what I use and why.

Canon Vs. Nikon?

Lets get this out of the way now:

I don't mind. Honestly! I have no real allegiance. I shot for 5 years with Canon and have shot the last 7 years with Nikon. I'd happily shoot with Canon today or any other manufacturer that allows me to shoot the images I want to shoot, under the conditions I want to shoot them.

Camera bodies

1x Nikon D5

1x Nikon D750

Previously in my professional career I have used the Nikon D4 and before that the Nikon D3. I shot with a Nikon D700 as a D3 backup and have had the D800 in the kit bag since the D4 arrived. These days, the D5 is so capable the D800 stays in the camera bag as nothing more than a backup. In terms of all the cameras I've ever used and in the order I used them the order looks something like this:

Lenses:

This is probably the lens that gets used the least but has the biggest impact when it does come out of the bag. I only use this extreme lens when the options are to go wide or go home.

Nikon 24 - 70mm f/2.8

This was my go-to lens for every photo that wasn't with the 70-200mm until I got my hands on the Sigma 35mm Art lens. The Nikon 24-70 produces sharp and rich photos and I can depend on it's lightening fast auto focus motor in any situation. It's my longest serving lens, and works as good now as it did on day 1. Even if it looks a little worse for how many times I've dropped it...

Nikon 70 - 200mm f/2.8 VR II

Owing to my documentary photography approach to weddings, this is the lens I use for 80% of my photos. It's long enough that I can stand back and let things play out, and fast enough to not miss anything. If I could only take one lens to a wedding, this would undoubtedly be it.

Nikon 85mm f/1.4

The Nikon 85mm f/1.4 is just one of those lenses that everything it touches turns to gold. It's the ideal length for portraits or picking out details, and the longer focal length combined with the f/1.4 aperture means you can really blow the background out of focus and concentrate on what really matters. On the downside, the focus is slow and the margin for error minute, but when you nail it, nothing else compares.

Sigma 35mm f/1.4 [Art]

This is the lens to use when you want the last word in image quality and sharpness. Sure it's not the best made lens - mine is held together with electrical tape, but I love it. If I could only own one lens for the rest of my life, it would have to be the Sigma 35mm f/1.4.

The 35mm focal length gives it a field of view that's very close to how the human eye sees the world, which makes composition really easy - when you see something that looks amazing to the eye, put the camera to your face and the image you get will be a close representation of what you've seen.

Sigma 50mm f/1.4 [Art]

This beautiful beast of a lens has only very recently been added to my setup, and I will be photographing my first wedding with it soon - so watch this space for an update!

Lighting equipment

I don't use the flash on the camera all that often. Instead I use my flash guns off-camera, to create visual effects that can't be done any other way. This is known as the 'strobist approach.'

Compared to a new camera body or a lens, the price for my lighting equipment is small, but in terms of bang-for-your-buck you really can't beat a speedlight - They're small but mighty!

2x Nikon SB900

Nikon SD-9 battery pack

1x Pocket Wizard Mini TT1 transmitter

1x Pocket Wizard AC3

2x Pocket Wizard Flex TT5 receiver

3x Pocket Wizard Plus II radio transceiver

Multiple light stands and lighting modifiers including umbrellas and softboxes